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In an announcement late Tuesday from the Treasury Department, the administration announced a one-year delay in the health care law’s employer mandate. The White House says the move comes in response to requests from business groups for additional time to comply.

The law requires companies with 50 or more workers to offer affordable coverage to their employees or face potentially large fines if just one worker ends up getting taxpayer-subsidized insurance.

“This is going to help Texas employers quite a bit.”

Vivian Ho is the Baker Institute Chair in Health Economics at Rice University.

“It’s very complicated for employers to purchase health insurance for the first time. And then for those who are offering health insurance, if their health insurance policies don’t meet the requirements of minimum essential benefits, then they’re going to have to change their policies quite a bit. It was just a lot for employers to have to work their way through.”

Separately, state-level opposition has steadily undermined a Medicaid expansion that had been expected to provide coverage for some 15 million low-income people. Texas is one of 21 states opting out of Medicaid expansion.